Kyle Edward Ball’s horror phenomenon Skinamarink has managed to take social media and festival circuits by storm, and while it’s unlikely it will draw up quite as big of a ruckus at the box office, the fact that it’s been granted the opportunity to do so is more than enough cause for excitement.
Ball’s eerie, divisive, and ultimately unsettling feature, filmed entirely in his own childhood home, follows the quiet peril of two young children who wake up one night to find their father missing, and with all of the house’s doors and windows mysteriously vanished.
It’s bad enough that this all takes place in the middle of the night, which creates a seeping atmospheric nightmare on its own, but it’s not long before the children start to realize that there may be something else prancing in the shadows of their undefended abode.
It’s no secret that the film, a found-footage-esque indulgence of horror over terror, will have just as many detractors as those who will fight to the death for it, and r/horror seems to boast legions of folks on either side of the fence, who have only become more vocal upon learning about Skinamarink‘s upcoming box office bout.
Indeed, for every user who praised Ball’s gutsy deviation, there were others who simply didn’t have the patience for it.
Others showed themselves to be a mixed bag of opinions when it came to Skinamarink, suggesting that Ball’s style was definitely worth an examination, even though this particular use of it was an imperfect prototype.
Although, with a dread-inducing trailer and the cheeky draw that often comes with being divisive, Skinamarink could succeed yet.
It may not pull the numbers that fellow indie horror Terrifier 2 managed, especially given the lack of an iconic new slasher villain to ride its hopes on, but if Skinamarink triggers the right response, Ball might find himself with a bigger budget next time around.
Skinamarink will release to theaters on Jan. 13, 2023.